When living away from the Philippines, there are a lot of things you’re likely to miss. It’s not just the people, though, that’s a big part of it; there are the beautiful beaches, the hidden valleys, the countless waterfalls ready for chasing, and so much more. Just thinking about all of these can trigger homesickness and nostalgia, but none more so than the delicious Filipino food constantly on offer when you visit the Philippines.
We’re talking about more than just your usual Filipino adobo, which most Pinoys can make or get even when abroad. From regional delicacies to national food favorites, the list of Fil-Am food cravings goes on and on! Which is why we thought we’d ask a few Fil-Ams to share the Filipino food faves they miss the most when abroad. Their answers had us drooling!
1. Kat, 44, IT Manager from Austin, Texas
Hometown: Manila
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 13
Top Filipino food craving:
Sisig, [paired with] rice!
Note: Sisig was first introduced in the province of Pampanga. It’s usually made from diced-up pork mask, ears, and belly, sometimes with added chicken liver. It’s served on a sizzling plate and often topped with an egg or mayonnaise.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Aysee’s.
Are you able to get this where you live?
Not anymore. There was one place that used to serve it, ears and all, but they closed down during the pandemic.
2. Georgette, 51, Accounts Payable/Payroll Assistant from Gardena, California
Hometown: Quezon City, but I lived in Dumaguete/Sibulan for eight years before I left in 2017
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 7 (I have not visited my homeland since I left)
Top Filipino food craving:
Lanzones! And puto bumbong.
Note: Lanzones, or langsat, is a globelike berry with a thick skin on the outside and semi-translucent segments with a gummy-like texture on the inside. These are harvested in bunches, similar to grapes, from the Lansium domesticum tree.
Meanwhile, puto bumbong is a sticky purple rice cake steamed in bumbong, or bamboo tubes, although metal substitutes are often used in more commercial establishments. Popular during the holiday season, the puto, or rice cakes, are usually made with a variety of forbidden or purple rice, although some establishments use ube, or purple yam, to add to the purple color and flavor.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Lanzones at my late friend’s place in San Pablo where they live. I get pampered with lanzones when I’m there. Puto bumbong—around the neighborhood at Christmastime. But otherwise, Solibao in Baguio City or Via Mare in Manila.
Are you able to get this where you live?
I have not seen any lanzones, fresh or otherwise. And as for puto bumbong… There was something labeled “puto bumbong” that I bought from a Filipino bakery in Carson, CA, but it was more like purple palitaw because of the texture. Also, because it was not freshly steamed, and they don’t use fresh grated coconut. Ugh.
3. Pearl, 59, Rape Crisis Center Executive Director from Illinois
Home Province: Cebu
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 38
Top Filipino food craving:
Lechon, anything and everything, [paired with] pickled atchara and Mang Tomas lechon sauce.
Note: Lechon is a whole pig (usually a suckling pig) slow-roasted on a spit. Cebu is the province most famous for their flavorful take on lechon, but this can be found all over the country.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Growing up, there were the lechons from Talisay. Sundays meant beach and lechon in Talisay.
Are you able to get this where you live?
I would buy pork rump, season and bake it myself!
4. Patricia, 50, from Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Hometown: I was born in Pennsylvania. My Dad grew up in Quezon City. My Mom grew up in San Juan.
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: I have lived my entire life in the United States. My parents came to the States in the 1960s.
Top Filipino food craving:
I love Filipino desserts, but my top craving would be halo-halo.
Note: Halo-halo, with its meaning of “mix-mix,” is a popular summertime dessert in the Philippines. The essential elements include shaved or crushed ice, evaporated milk, and a variety of topping ingredients like nata de coco (coconut jelly), macapuno or coconut sport strings, langka (jackfruit), kaong (candied palm seeds), red monggo beans, sweet chickpeas, saba banana slices in syrup, ube (purple yam), a scoop of ice cream, and more.
Are you able to get this where you live?
There are a few places to get halo-halo in Philadelphia, PA. We just got a Red Ribbon, so I can get it there. There is also a place called Tambayan where I can get halo-halo. But the best place is at my parents’ house, where we buy the ingredients and make it ourselves…that way we can put more of our favorite ingredients (for me, the jackfruit and ube ice cream)!
5. Lea, 36, Guest Relations for various restaurants from Washington, D.C.
Home Province: Bicol
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 20+
Top Filipino food craving:
Tinoktok or pinangat ng Bicol. It’s steamed taro, coconut, and shrimp. I love the spicy version. It’s also a nickname for girls that went to school. [I like to pair this with], obviously, rice. And maybe some liempo or adobo sa asin and a few lumpias. I’d just love a whole fiesta plate right now, actually.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
I honestly have no idea. I know it originated in a small town called Camalig. My family always has loads stocked when I come home 🙂
Are you able to get this where you live?
No! I can only get my hands on this if someone brings it from Bicol.
6. Francis, 62, retiree from Hayward (SF/Bay Area), California
Hometown: Project 7, Quezon City
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 41
Top Filipino food craving:
I have a few…since I lived in SF/Bay Area, we have a lot of Filipino restaurants and easily satisfy any cravings I have, if any, and my wife is a very good cook in our household. When I go back home to the Philippines, I would crave for fruits that are not available here, particularly atis, santol, lansones, duhat, and siniguelas. One particular food I look forward to eating if we are going up north is the tupig sold along the way around Pangasinan. I also look forward to the hot chocolate in Baguio.
I would like to visit the Philippines in 2025 or 2026. I would try to eat mami and siopao from Ma Mon Luk or search for “iskrambol”—a refreshing colorful ice smoothie that gives me a brain freeze.
Note: Atis, also known as the sugar apple or sweet sop, is a tropical fruit known for its rough green exterior, sweet and creamy white flesh, and abundance of hard black seeds. Santol or cotton fruit is a round tropical fruit with a very tough yellow-orange exterior. Inside, the fruit is segmented, with each segment often having a large seed covered in a white pulp that can be sweet or sour. The berrylike duhat, sometimes known as the Java plum or black plum, is a fruit with a sweet and slightly sour flavor. When eaten, it is known for tinting the tongue and lips purple from the dark color of its skin and flesh.
Tupig is a banana leaf-wrapped rice cake made from fermented glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk, muscovado sugar, and coconut strips or shavings. As opposed to suman, which is usually steamed, tupig is usually grilled. Mami is a wheat flour noodle soup with broth and usually some sort of meat or wonton topping. Meanwhile, the siopao is a steamed bun with a variety of filling, although the most common are the asado, which is sweet and savory with chunks of meat; and the bola-bola, which is filled with a meatball and often salted egg and Chinese sausage.
Iskrambol, short for ice scramble, is a dessert made with shaved ice, banana extract, and evaporated milk, then topped with various ingredients like strawberry or chocolate syrup, sprinkles, pinipig (rice crispies), and more.
7. Lola, 40, Creative and Editorial Consultant, Fil-Am based in Berlin, Germany
Hometown: Makati City
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: Back and forth for many years; more permanently since 2018 (6 years)
Top Filipino food craving:
Tough to choose! Lengua. Laing. Crispy Bangus (don’t skip the belly! Plus, red egg. I’m salivating thinking abut it). Pork Belly. But most significantly, good seafood like crab. It’s tough to get fresh seafood here since Berlin is landlocked.
Note: Lengua is a dish made from pork or beef tongue, often served with white or brown sauce. Laing is made from taro leaves in a spicy and thick coconut milk mix with sili and other herbs and seasonings, often with chunks of meat or seafood included.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Not top of mind, but of course, the home cooking growing up. When I was a child, we lived with my great-grandparents and there were so many kids in the household (cousins galore!). Aling Belen was the one in charge of the entire household, and she ran it like a well-oiled machine! Imagine, all these kids at a very long dining table eating together this freshly-made, healthy, nutritious food. We always started with broth, which is something I miss here, and I am trying to also do more of in my household with my child.
Are you able to get this where you live?
There are some Asian shops, but it isn’t the same, of course.
8. Joanne, 30, from Brooklyn, New York
Hometown: Nueva Ecija and Baguio
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 30. I’ve been going to Philippines every 1-3 years for summer break since I was little.
Top Filipino food craving:
Grilled hito (catfish), [paired with] white rice, mango, tomato, onion salsa. For the sauce, some soy, sili, and calamansi!
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Zaragoza
Are you able to get this where you live?
Not that I know of.
9. Chet, senior citizen, state employee from California
Hometown: Quezon City
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 30
Top Filipino food craving:
Fresh lumpiang ubod from Bacolod and Cebu lechon
Note: Lumpiang ubod are fresh spring rolls made with heart of palm and a variety of other meat and vegetable fillings.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Relative (now passed away) used to make the lumpia for family gatherings. Lechon from Cebu was from my mentor who, sadly, has gone.
Are you able to get this where you live?
Nowhere can I find any passable recipe for the lumpia and wrapper. I tried making it, but the result was far from the real thing. [For] lechon, what’s popular now are the rolled belly, grilled lechon style, but the pork raised in the U.S. does not have the same amount of fat as those raised in the Philippines.
What do you like to pair this food with?
Pair these with family, friends, and Pinoy chismis and humor!!! Bliss!
10. Butch, 51, Nurse Informaticist from Northern Wisconsin
Hometown: Manila
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 25 years (and change)
Top Filipino food craving:
OK, this is a difficult question. It’s like asking me to name my favorite book! If I have to commit to a few, it would be: lechon kawali, tapsilog, daing na bangus over garlic rice, sinigang, bulalo, bibingka, and puto bumbong.
Note: Lechon kawali is deep-fried pork belly cooked until it’s very crispy. Tapsilog, or tapa + silog, is a popular rice meal usually served for breakfast. Here, garlic rice is topped with strips or crumble of peppery and garlicky beef and a fried egg.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
I don’t think they are open anymore. Probably just Rodic’s for tapsilog at the UP Diliman Campus. Barrio Fiesta used to serve “sizzling tiyan ng bangus,” which was sooo good. Bulalo, there was one place in Tagaytay, but I was told that there are a ton of good options there now. Bibingka, it was Juanchitos by UN Avenue, and I think they also had puto bumbong and it was great during the holidays (or year round).
Are you able to get this where you live?
To get my Pinoy food fix, I need to travel a bit over three hours to Oshkosh, or visit a major city (NYC, Chicago). I do have sinigang mix handy, and I can now get some Pinoy snacks online.
What do you like to pair this food with?
Sago at gulaman, green mango shake, good company 🙂
11. Jasmine, 39, Business Owner and Vocal Coach from San Francisco, California
Hometown: Mandaue/Cebu
Number of years lived outside the Philippines: 16.5
Top Filipino food craving:
Tuna Panga. [My] first meal home would be panga, kinilaw, BBQ chicken, and puso with friends!
Note: Tuna panga, or jaw, is often marinated in a teriyaki or sweet soy sauce and then charcoal-grilled before serving.
What do you like to pair this food with?
RIIIIIIICE, and the vinegar/soy sauce mix with the onion and tomatoes (but no chili!)
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
Not that I remember…somewhere in Mandaue—but it’s ALL good.
Are you able to get this where you live?
Only at one restaurant that has it maybe 1 out of 10 times I try 🙁
12. Leo, 40, from San Francisco Bay Area, California
Top Filipino food craving:
Kinilaw—with the coconut milk! [Paired with] homemade tugnos ginamos, rice, and tubâ!
Note: Kinilaw is the Bisaya equivalent of the Tagalog kilawin, or fish ceviche/raw fish salad. The fish, often tanigue, tuna, or mahi-mahi (known locally as pandawan or dorado), is “cooked” in vinegar and served with sliced onions, ginger, tomatoes, and citrus like calamansi or lemon. The Visayan version of this dish usually uses coconut milk as well.
Favorite place in the Philippines to get this:
My cousin’s place in Duero, Bohol
Are you able to get this where you live?
Yes, in Bohol, and the palengke.
What is your favorite Filipino food that you crave when you’re abroad? Leave us a comment on Facebook or Instagram to let us know!
